With so many newly homeless amid fires, efforts to help already unhoused get tougher
As fire crews continue to work to gain control of the massive Palisades and Eaton fires, organizations from around Los Angeles County are working to support thousands whose homes were destroyed in an area where housing affordability and availability were already an enduring crisis.
Aside from the newly homeless, the Eaton and Palisades fires have complicated efforts for agencies that help people who were already without dwellings long before the deadly fires were unleashed.
“Before the crisis of the fires, we were already battling a lack of affordable housing,” Mario Galeano, vice president of development for Union Station Homeless Services, said on Monday, Jan. 14.
Even amid the challenges, some paused to their blessings. “It’s out of my control and I’m just thanking God that I’m still healthy and safe,” said Oland Mayweather, an unhoused longtime resident of Pasadena, said after nearly a week of coping with the aftermath of the Eaton fire.
“Unfortunately, there are people who have lost their homes,” he added, pausing to speak as he camped with his belongings in Central Park, “and people who got burned and are sitting in the Huntington Hospital right now that may not make it out, so I have no complaints.”
Union Station Homeless Services, a Pasadena service provider for people facing housing insecurity, has stepped up its efforts to help both the newly homeless and its previous clients. The organization offers outreach, interim housing, permanent housing, and other social services to people in need across the San Gabriel Valley, according to their website.
The agency’s Mirador permanent supportive housing location for seniors in Altadena had to be evacuated during the Eaton fire. And their Family Center in Pasadena, which is emergency shelter and housing for families, was also evacuated but was expected to reopen as soon as Tuesday, Galeano said.
“We are going to see a large number of people struggling, because there were apartment buildings that were burnt down, and people who were living in low-income housing,” Galeano said. “We are definitely going to see an increase in people seeking more affordable housing options in the next coming months.”
At Central Park in Pasadena, members of Galeano’s outreach team reported an increase in the number of unhoused people camped there on Monday.
Though the San Gabriel Valley’s unhoused population pales in comparison to the City of Los Angeles, the region is still home to a growing number of people without permanent shelter.
There were a total of 1,275 people without sheltered living in the San Gabriel Valley — including Altadena — in 2024, according to the results of the Los Angeles County Homeless Services Authority’s most recent point in time tally of unhoused people. There were another 819 people living in shelters tallied last year.
Aside from people that have been displaced by the fires, Galeano worried that those already dealing with chronic homelessness will be hindered in their attempts to find permanent housing because of the sweeping destruction caused by the fires.
“We’re not going to solve it on our own – we’re really hoping that we can work together with other agencies, our city partners, our elected officials to find viable, long-term solutions,” he said, “not just for people who were evacuated and displaced, but also for those who have been experiencing chronic homelessness or have been experiencing homelessness for reasons out of their control, whether it’s because of costs, health, or mental health reasons.”
LAHSA — charged with providing social services and housing solutions for the county — said in a Friday, Jan. 10 news release that they worked quickly relocate people from interim housing sites when the fires began.
The agency, the release said, relocated 275 individuals from five interim housing sites located within evacuation zones when the fires broke out, and activated its emergency response motel voucher program, making 410 hotel and motel vouchers available for unsheltered people in the fire’s path.
“We mobilized resources and took decisive action to protect lives during these unprecedented wildfires,” LAHSA CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum said in the release. “As the lead agency for the L.A. area’s rehousing system, LAHSA is dedicated to safeguarding our unhoused neighbors. When disaster threatens, we don’t wait. We act.”
LAHSA also opened up and staffed two emergency shelters — one at the Pecan Recreation Center and another at Queen Park, and provided cots and other supplies for various emergency sites throughout the county.
Back at Union Station Homeless Services, meanwhile, Galeano said the organization is trying to get in touch with unhoused families and individuals impacted by the fires to let them know about supplies are available.
“We’re trying to meet any need,” Galeano said. “We also have gift cards available for families who have kids that need more specific needs, or also gift cards for health related expenses. Anything they need, they can come in and our volunteers will assist them and figure out what they need.”
Monday was the first day that USHS began distributing supplies, after doing emergency collections since the fires broke out.
There are bins for people to come and take things, there are everything from food, non-perishables, water, brand new clothing, bedding, pillows, towels, hygiene products for men and women, baby formula and diapers. On Tuesday, they also planned to have food trucks on site to provide hot meals.
“It’s not just a one-trip (thing), if they need to come back in three days for more items, they can come back,” he said. “We’re open and there are no requirements. It’s for anyone who shows up we will serve.”
Supplies and resources are available this week at their USHS Adult Center, 412 S. Raymond Ave., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
At Central Park, donations for people impacted by the fires, ranging from water bottles to clothing and other basic necessities, have stacked up in the days since the fires broke out.
“I dwell in this neighborhood quite often,” said Mayweather, camped out with his belongings on a cement park bench near the Central Park Center. “I really didn’t have to go anywhere the past two or three days because people have been bringing cases of water the past two days. They had a section of the sidewalk with brand new coats, shoes, and more, from the victims that did lose their homes to these fires, they’re trying to give back, and that’s really beautiful.”
Mayweather is no stranger to disaster, he said, having lived through earthquakes and previously serving as a front-line responder to fires as a member of an incarcerated fire crew.
“I pray for all those fellas who are up there fighting because a lot of people don’t understand that it’s a very dangerous job,” he said. “I’ve been there due to being incarcerated, and we’re one of the first people that are on the fires, and are given orders to do whatever. I commend all (firefighters) because people don’t realize they’re putting their lives on the line.”